Medicmc

On craigslist I found someone giving away pea sized hard coal. Speaking to the person who placed the add she said there is about 7-8 garbage cans worth of coal that was used to heat the farmhouse. I've been using Pocahontas coal in my little rivet forge for the last few months with good results. But with shipping I paid $45 for 50lbs. So getting coal for free would be a good thing...if I can use it in my forge with a hand cranked blower. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm in northern NJ if anybody else nearby wants some email me. Thanks Medicmc

A foot pedal!!! holy cow i'm gonna hafta start all over again :wacko: Now ya got me thinkin...that may not be all that hard to do hmmm. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Hi BobL Thanks. You may not need a full bore 3/4 inch solenoid. The one I used has a 3/16 orifice, before I used it I tried to find a chart or formula to find how much gas could flow thru such a small opening. The formulas I found had waaaay to much math for me to understand, so I just set it up temporarily between the tank and forge and it seem to flow enough gas to work. My advice would be to try the largest solenoid you have and see if it works...or on some home heating systems there are electrically controlled water valves that you may be able to use. Bigreds idea would work also. VaughnT. Thank you also. I would enjoy making these control boxes, but if I had to buy all the parts new it would cost lots of money. Probably in the $2-300 range. It looks complicated but if you break it down into smaller sections its not to bad. If you want to try to make one yourself I'd be glad to post or email you more detailed info.

So last week I posted pics of a Mankel forge and anvil that I found on CL. I used it a little and found that I didn't like having the forge burning full blast while I was hammering a the anvil. On my home made atmospheric brick forge I made an idle circuit from some brass fittins an electric solenoid and a switch. Its a simple setup and it saves gas. So I started thinking (I know a very dangerous thing to do) that I need something similar for my "new" forge. It started out simple just a solenoid and idle valve, which I made, and then found that when I turned the gas low the blower motor was still going full force and would blow out the flame. And turning the gas low, reaching over to the blower door and closing it, then taking the hot metal out, then doing the reverse after the metal I was hammering cooled, seemed kinda awkward. And so began the long electro-mechanical journey to make a control system that would lower gas usage and control the blower motor output. Here's what I made; And it actually works!! I had most of the parts in stock, but ended up spending about $75 on items I didn't have. Here's a closer view with labels :) And here's whats inside :o simple right? Here's a closer look inside. The gas comes in, goes to a manifold that supplies the idle control vale, and the main gas control solenoid and valve, then exists thru the black hose to the forge. On the bottom of the box is the 12 volt power supply for the blower motor, on the right side are two PWM's (pulse width modulator) that controls the high and low speed of the blower. And a DPST relay that switches between the two PWM's and controls the indicator lights. Oh and a fan to keep everything cool...and a molded hospital grade power cord!!! When at idle the indicator light is on next to the idle control valve and the idle blower speed adjusting knob. When at full the light is on next to the full flow gas valve and the high speed blower adjustment knob. The lights get brighter or dimmer depending on the speed output. I can now control the gas and blower from a safe distance from the forge. And have an almost infinite amount of gas output, and air input. I leave the blower door and gas valve on the forge wide open. And it all fits inside of a 8x8x4 pvc electrical box.

Hi, Thanks for your reply's. I'm glad I got a good deal. They are very nice tools. I spent the last week making an idle control for the forge which I'll post under forges. Marc

Hi All, Just picked up a Mankel two burner blown forge and a 98.5lbs Mankel anvil. The person I got them from was a Farrier and bought them new in 1975, he doesn't remember what he paid. Included in the deal were two hardies a half round 1 7/16 marked "Diamond RH-2" and a straight 1 1/2 marked "Diamond CH-2". I paid $290 for the lot. Did I pay to much or did I get a good deal. The inside of the forge is worn from use but still usable.It gets hot quick, in another post I'll show ya the incredibly complicated control system I came up with. The anvil cleaned up nice, the face is flat and the edges are sharp, and it has a beautiful ring to it. Marc